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Sweet Baby James has had his share of ups and downs.
Trudging through fire and rain, James Taylor has continued
to make music that touches on all aspects of human experience
whether it be the suicide of a friend ("Fire and Rain")
revisiting the joy of early rock (his luminescent version
of "Handy Man") or the darkness of his own personal experience
into the descent of heroin addiction. Taylor is often overlooked
because his music is mellow and fits into the 70's singer-songwriter
camp but unlike many of his contemporaries his work has
much broader depth than critics give him credit for. ***
Taylor got his start in a band with Danny "Kotch" Kortchmar
(who has fought his own demons over the years) but was eventually
signed as a solo artist to the Beatles fledging Apple Records
just as the label was on the verge of collapse. The result
was an album that didn't sell well and a career that stalled.
That might have been the end of Taylor's career if not for
the daring of his manager/producer Peter Asher who left
Apple and arranged a deal with Warner Brothers. It was the
meeting of the right talent singing the right songs at the
right time with a big corporate push that resulted in Taylor
becoming a fixture on FM and AM radio. Through all of his
ups (his early successes and married to singer/songwriter
Carly Simon) and downs (his divorce from Simon and a career
that was left briefly in limbo during the emergence of New
Wave and Punk Rock) Taylor has persevered and we are all
the better for it as his artistry even on his most mediocre
albums (and there have been plenty of those as well as sterling
ones) has managed to shine through. ***
Survivors are often overlooked at the expense of their
colleagues who burn out, commit suicide or are killed. Luckily
for Taylor he's getting recognition from his peers with
this terrific DVD "A Musiccares Person of the Year Tribute:
Honoring James Taylor" from Rhino DVD. A who's who of musical
performers appears on this DVD from a wide variety of music
genres. The artists that appear at this benefit which provides
care for musicians during times of personal difficulties
is a who's who of current and past musical giants suggesting
just how well guarded Taylor is by his peers.
Artists/songs: The Dixie Chicks -"Shower-The People"
Bonnie Raitt - "Rainy Day Man"
India. Arie - "Secret Of Life"
Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Sheryl Crow- "Mexico
" Sting - "You Can Close Your Eyes"
Dr. John and Taj Mahal - "Everybody has the Blues"
Allison Krauss & Jerry Douglas - "Carolina In My Mind"
Keith Urban- "Country Road"
Bruce Springsteen - "Millworker"
Carole King & James Taylor - "You've Got a Friend"
James Taylor - "Shed A Little Light", "How Sweet It
Is (To Be Loved By You"", "Fire & Rain" ***
The performances are uniformly excellent with Taylor,
of course, the highlight. ---
Image & Sound:
A top notch transfer with great detail, crisp images
and bright, vivid colors. Audio sounds equally great with
little in the way of compression artifacts. The overall
sound is great in the 5.1 mix and fans can also listen in
on PCM stereo. ---
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